Ceiling or floor plate



Patetd' Dec. 6, |898.

-L. H. -SNYDER. CEILING 0R FLIJOR PLATE. (Application filed Aug'. 10,1898.)

(No Model.)

' UNITED STATES Para.NT Ormes.

LYMAN H. vSNYDER, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT.

CEILING R' FLOOR PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,641, dated December6, 1898.

Application filed August 10, 1898. Serial No. 688,292. (No model.)

ToaZZ whom, t may con/cern.:

Beit known that I, LYMAN H. SNYDER, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Bristol, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ceiling or FloorPlates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in ceiling and floor plates; andthe objects of my improvement are 4to provide a new lock for holding aceiling-plate on the pipe up against the ceiling and also to provide acheap and convenient construction for securing the two parts of a flooror ceiling plate together.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of myceiling-plate. Fig.2 Vis a horizontal section of the same on the linexof Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is an edge view showing the confronting edges of thetwo parts of said plate, and Fig. 4 is a reverse plan View of aHoor-plate which embodies some features of the invention shown in thepreceding iigures.

A B designate the two4 parts of a ceilingplate, the part B having thelugs 5 on its end walls 6, said lugs being notched on one side, as at 7,Fig. 2, and as indicated 'by broken lin es in Fig. 3, the notches onsaid lugs both facing in the same direction towardthe edge of the plate.The part A is provided with sockets 8 in its end walls G, the saidsockets being of a size to receive and guide the lugs 5 of the companionpart B and havinga straight side 9 for entering the notches in the sidesof the said lugs 5. I have shown the sockets as of a square contour inside view, as in Fig. 3; but aside from the side 9 the shape isimmaterial. Near one end of the part A there is a slot 10 for the spring1l, and adjacent to said slot is a stud or post 12, and on the otherside of said slot is the pin 13. The spring 11 is perforated to receivethe pin 13 and is secured in place by slipping it edgewise or endwiseinto the slot 10, with one end resting against the stud or post 12,while the perforation receives the pin 13, as shown, the end of thespring adjacent to said pin projecting a little beyond thewall 6 at theend of the part A.

The parts A and Bare secured together by placing said parts with theirend walls 6 opposite each other and with the projecting end of thespring on the part A pressing against the inner edge of the part B, thenforcing said part B and the spring in such a direction as to enter thelugs 5 into the sockets 8, and whenboth lugs have entered or passedthrough said sockets to the proper depth the two parts may slip uponeach other and bring the straight side 9 into the notches 7 of the lugs5 to lock'the parts A and B together. The spring 11 will exert aconstant tendency to hold the said parts in their locked position. Inorder to unlock them, it is only necessary to slip the parts one uponthe otherin the direction of their dividing-line or end Walls andagainst the force of the spring until the sides 9 are withdrawn from thenotches 7 of the lugs and then withd raw said lugs from their sockets.

Aceiling-plate requires something to hold the plate up against theceiling on the pipe. This has generally been accomplished by means of aspring or springs; but a iioor-plate may rest upon the iioor, and hencerequires no holding device. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the part B is providedwith a ball-holding device, as the plate there shown is designed for aceiling-plate.` In Fig. l I show a plate designed for a floor-plate onlyand in which the part A is the same as that already described herein,while the part Ba is substantially the same as the part B, iirstdescribed, less the ball-holdingdevice,which I will now describe.

The part B is provided with a cam-shaped ball-chamber 17 and the ball14. Said chamber Vopens to the inner face of the part B, so that theball may slightly project therefrom. I call the ball-chamber cam-shapedbecause it is eccentric to the plate. In addition to being eccentric Iprefer to form this chamber on an incline from the horizontal, so thatwhen the plate is held in a horizontal position the ball will have atendency to roll down to that end of the chamber where the projection ofthe ball is the greatest, as shown. I also prefer to form the chamberwith ahole 15 for the introduction of the ball, which hole may be closedby a suitable plug 16. The hole 15 for the introduction of the ball isformed in an extension of the cam-shaped ball-chamber 17 beyond theopening at its inner face, through which the ball projects, whereby thefull length of the said opening may be traversed bythe ball, althoughthe IOO end of the plug 16 projects into the extension of the chamber17, as shown in Fig. 2, and limits the traverse of-the ball to that partof the ball-chamber having the said opening. It should be noted that thefastening of the two parts A and B together is such that the said partscannot be separated by a direct pull in a direction transversely totheir dividing-line, and this is essential to my ballholding devicebecause its force is exerted in a direction transversely to thedividing-line of the two parts. Then the ball is at that end of thechamber where the plug 16 is located, it projects but little or nonefrom the inner edge of the plate, and consequently the two parts A and Bmay be put together around the pipe on which the plate is to be used.The plate is then pushed into place up against the ceiling. If theball-chamber is inclined horizontally, the ball Will roll down bygravity until it bears upon the pipe on one side, and the inner edge ofthe part A will bear on the opposite side of the pipe. By taking hold ofthe plate and turning it forcibly in the direction indicated by the dartin Fig. 1 the plate may be firmly held in place on the pipe by the camaction of the ball and its cam-shaped chamber. The plate may be releasedby turning it inthe reverse direction.

Of course it is evident that this ceilingplate may be used as aHoor-plate, although when so used the ball-fastening would not benecessary. It is also evident that both parts, particularly those shownin Fig. 4, may be provided with a spring in the manner described for thepart A, but it is believed that an additional spring is Whollysuperfluous.

By my improvements I provide a cheap, convenient, andeiicient fasteningfor detachably holding the two parts together either in a floor orceiling plate and also a cheap, convenient, and efficient constructionfor holding the plate in position on the pipe.

I claim as my inventionl. A divided Hoor or ceiling plate consisting oftwo parts meeting each other at their ends, and a spring, one parthaving at each end the lug 5 notched at its base, the notches in bothlugs facing in the same direction toward one edge of the plate, theother' part having in each of its end walls the socket 8 of a size toreceive and guide the said lugs 5, each socket having a locking side 9on that edge toward which the notches in the lugs open, in combinationwith a spring fixed upon one of said parts and arranged to bear upon theother part and acting to hold the end wall of the socket part in thenotches of the lugs of the companion part, substantially as described.

2. A divided ceiling-plate having fastenings for holding its two partsagainst movement in the transverse direction to their dividing-line, onepart having the eccentric ball-chamber and ball for holding the plate inplace on the pipe, substantially as described.

LYMAN II. SNYDER. Vitnesses:

JAMES SHEPARD, A. W. STIPEK.

